Tuesday, 23 October 2007

So last Thursday was my birthday and it was a truly lovely day. I'd hoped to post the photos with this post but my friend still has them as they were taken on her digital camera.

One of my lovely presents was this wonderful candle. I had come across it in a beautiful shop called Sage which sells lovely lovely things. The smell of fresh linen is one of my most favourite smells in the world so to be able to capture it in a candle that can burn for 35 hours is simply exquisite. I could not afford to treat myself to the luxury of this candle, but I'd mentioned it in conversation at work, and one of my colleagues listened. So lovely.I also got a wonderul array of recipe books. Even though I have only lived with my housemates for a few months, the fact that they bought me a Tessa Kiros recipe book, and 'The art of Chocolate' book shows just how well they know me. I'm so excited about cooking up some treats!!

Today has been my day off and I had the most leisurely morning that I've had in a long long time - I woke up at about 9am (which is virtually unheard of for me) then read in bed for an hour and a half. I love reading, I really do. Especially when it is a book that totally captivates your attention. I'm reading 'My Sister's Keeper' by Jodi Picoult and whilst she doesn't seem to hugely vary her writing style between books, I still love it. She's very good at capturing emotion to the degree that you feel like you're catching an element of what the characters - if they were people - would be feeling. But there's something more than that. Something which I can't quite communicate in the way I want to.

Saturday, 6 October 2007

I seem to be going through a bit of a funny season with blogging at the moment. I really want to blog, but seem to have lost my lyrical flow (if I ever had any!). In all honesty, whilst I would like to think that I was unaffected by my big brother's comment a while ago that each of my entries was like a little novella, I did feel slightly patronised (no hard feelings John) and I think this has affected the way I write. I guess in saying this I am wanting to get over it and get back into writing again.

In losing my writing momentum, I would have loved to have kept this updated with photos of all the exciting things that bring joy in the everyday-ness of life, but the lack of a digital camera has hindered this somewhat. I would so love to have a bit of a documentary of my life going on because I know that whilst many memories will stay with me for my lifetime, there are a whole lot that won't. Also, there are hundreds of things which capture my attention on a daily basis, which I will never see again as you can never truly replicate anything, and it's those little things which I want to capture. Like last Sunday, I went for a run in the morning, exploring St Werburghs which is still a relatively new part of the city to me, and so holds lots of undiscovered delights. So I took the opportunity to explore my surroundings a little bit. As I ran through the Narroways Greenlands which is an area preserved by the National Trust, I ran over a railway bridge. Sadly, there was a lot of metal fencing - almost caging - arching over the bridge, but what caught my attention was the way a plant had woven its beautiful red autumnal leaves and tiny tiny tendrils in and around the mesh of the ugly metal fencing. Quite amazing. But I know that if I go back there in a few weeks time, those leaves will no longer be the stunning reds and oranges of Autumn, but probably will have died.

My run took me through a small area of woodland which I didn't know existed, which was much to my delight, to find some woods right by my house. The woods came out by some alotments. I was about to turn back on myself and run back the way I had come but then noticed how the trees lining each side of the pathway had bent over towards oneanother to make an archway for everyone who walks underneath it, and I simply couldn't refuse such an invitation to explore a little bit further. The next thing I knew, I was running past some pigs! There is a wee farm in St Werburghs, and I had stumbled upon it. It's amazing the way the farm makes you feel like you are in a totally different place - it's not your usual farm with acres of fields, but it does not feel like you're in a big city.I also came across an area of self-built eco housing (mum, you would love it). I think this is very cool - the way the houses are built makes you feel like you are in a shared community space - there's none of this terraced house business with all the front doors facing the same way so that you can easily avoid eye contact with your neighbour, thus extending the unfriendliness of British people. Rather,the houses are built in a slightly hap-hazard way in terms of their orientation., but with a good central space that appears to be communal.Sorry, I'd not doing a great job of conjuring up images in your imagination.

I hadn't intended to tell you all about my run - my fingers just seemed to get carried away - I suppose I just wanted to share my excitement over my new discoveries with somebody.

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unless otherwise stated, all photography & content found here is my own. if you would like to use my images or link to them, I am more than happy for you to do so, please just ask first, and attribute them to me.